MOZART BY CANDLELIGHT

The Locrian Ensemble at the Civic Theatre

26.09.10

Much is done these days to encourage young people to listen to classical music. But what of their grandparents, who'd like to hear the theme from Horse of the Year Show and Brain of Britain, who remember songs from the Music Hall.

Step forward the Locrian Ensemble, with their ever-popular Mozart by Candlelight. Fronted by the genial Justin Pearson, in wigs and frock coats, they played Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Pachelbel's Canon, A Musical Joke and the Divertimento.

More of a rarity was an arrangement of Mozart's Antiphon written as an entrance exam for the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna.

Two outstanding soloists this time out – Anthony Pike on basset clarinet for the Quintet, and the amazing Stacey Watton playing the opening of Bottesini's demanding concerto for Double Bass.

Mozart would have been surprised, not by the frequent applause, the chatter, the laughter, the chink of glasses from the bar in the second half, but by a woman leading the ensemble – the excellent Rita Manning.

Surprised but delighted, no doubt. As he would have been by the encores – Almaviva's lost aria If You Knew Susanna, and Wolfgang's touching tribute to Leopold, My Old Man …

Vienna by Candlelight

The Locrian Ensemble

Civic Theatre 19th September

Jim Hutchon was in the stalls ...

The Locrian Ensemble transported us from a damp Chelmsford Saturday into the lush Imperial world of Vienna, complete with powdered wigs and tights set in a classical statuary backdrop. But the light-heartedness of the setting, or the jokey anecdotes, fooled no-one, this is a group that is serious about its music and its expression.

The Ensemble comes together for these ‘Vienna by Candlelight’ concerts, although all the members are sought after soloists in their own right. They are led by Rita Manning, formerly leader of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra, who was able to breathe unexpected vibrancy into such pot-boilers as Lehar’s Gypsy Fiddles. Founder and principal raconteur of the Ensemble is cellist Justin Pearson who is also artistic director of the Nationl Symphony Orchestra.

The music was a varied selection of quite easy listening, mainly by Mozart, Strauss, Vivaldi and Lehar, although all were performed with a freshness and vivacity which belied their clichéd status. Guest soprano ‘the pocket diva’ Annette Wardell took on three solos with clarity and a warmth of expression, including the fiendish Queen of the Night’s aria from the Magic Flute. Other guest soloists included the very talented Irish harpist Jean Kelly and short sequences from a pair of dance champions, Shaun Christie and Emma Munbodhowa, who performed, of course, immaculate waltzes, as well as rhumba and cha cha.

Audience participation was a short lollipop which included burst paper bags to emulate the cannons in a truncated '1812' and an encouragement from the soprano to join in ‘Vilia Oh Vilia’.